2017/18 Teddy Hall MCR Writing Competition open

20 Oct 2017

Logo for Ex Aula, the MCR's online research journal

The Middle Common Room (MCR – St Edmund Hall’s postgraduate student body) is excited to announce the call for articles for this year’s writing competition. The MCR online journal, Ex Aula: Research from the Hall, was started last year and published 14 articles over Hilary and Trinity terms. The inaugural winning article, by Beth Raine, entitled ‘Dung Beetles: We Should All Talk More About Poo’, was chosen to win the prize of £500 by a judging panel made up of St Edmund Hall Senior Common Room members Dr Linda Yueh, Dr Emily Winkler and Prof. Paul Skokowski.

Beth Raine, the winner of the Ex Aula writing prize in 2017
Beth Raine, winner of the first 'Ex Aula' writing competition in 2017

The deadline for first drafts is Friday 1 December, 5pm. Articles should aim to answer one of or a combination of the following questions – Why is my research important? What does my research project contribute to the field? Why is my work/field relevant to the general public? – in a short 800-word laymen’s-terms essay.

  • The aims of the journal are:
  • to communicate the importance of research undertaken by St Edmund Hall graduate students to the general public;
  • to encourage inter-faculty communication;
  • to promote MCR graduate research within St Edmund Hall and the University, and;
  • to provide graduate students with the opportunity to expand their writing and editing skill-set away from thesis, dissertation and manuscript preparation.

Ex Aula provides a platform for students to present their work to the outside world. The best article will be selected based on its accessibility to a wider audience as judged by the SCR judging panel. A winner for the 2017/18 competition will be announced at the end of Trinity Term 2018.

Please send your submissions to the editors:

Read previous Ex Aula articles on the MCR website

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